Anti-Vaccine Scientist Has Been Invited to Testify Before Senate Committee
December 7, 2020
WASHINGTON — A doctor who is skeptical of coronavirus vaccines and promotes the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine as a COVID-19 treatment will be the lead witness at a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing Tuesday, prompting criticism from Democrats who say Republicans should not give a platform to someone who spreads conspiracy theories.
Dr. Jane Orient is executive director of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, a group that opposes government involvement in medicine and views federal vaccine mandates as a violation of human rights.
“It seems to me reckless to be pushing people to take risks when you don’t know what the risks are,” Orient said. “People’s rights should be respected. Where is ‘my body, my choice’ when it comes to this?”
Her selection as a witness as federal health officials are trying to promote a vaccine as a way to end a pandemic that has killed more than 281,000 Americans prompted harsh criticism from Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. and the Senate minority leader.
“At such a crucial time, giving a platform to conspiracy theorists to spread myths and falsehoods about COVID vaccines is downright dangerous and one of the last things Senate Republicans should be doing right now,” Schumer said in a statement Sunday.
But at least two Republican House members — Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona and Rep. Jeff Duncan of South Carolina — appeared to embrace Orient’s warnings against government mandates. They took to Twitter to express those views.
“Americans should have the freedom to take the COVID vaccine,” Duncan wrote Saturday. “Americans should also have the freedom to decline the vaccine.”
https://news.yahoo.com/anti-vaccine-scientist-invited-testify-194619328.html